Superintendent's Workshop 12 p.m. 2-12-24

001is 12 noon I would like to welcome you to this superintendence workshop being held at Joan idlet Jr TC I ask that out of respect to everyone please silence all electronic devices also if you have any material you wish to share with any board member please give that to our executive ass assistant Mrs Mor we will take a break every two hours or um if needed before that um board members there is one item I'm going to add and that is a short discussion on homeless students that'll be itm D okay other than that I'm going to turn it over to Dr Moore thank you madam chair first item is the purpose of this meeting which is to provide the opportunity for the board to engage in conversation on the items that will eventually come

002for approval during a business meeting these items have been presented to each individual board meeting during board briefings and today is the opportunity to present to the board proper our first item on the agenda is a item that uh was approved by all the board members in the uh TW I think it was October November of 2023 and it is to review and provide feedback on the creation and development of a classical school also looking at K8 models as well as a Botique high school I'll thank in advance the staff Dr shafty Dr Bean Miss perur who have led this work uh it is coming at a very unique time for us as a school system um and I don't want to take away any of the Thunder from those who are presenting uh but

003we have the opportunity to be nimble and work fast as a school system to meet the needs of our community um if you look at our enrollment from 1819 to today's date we're about 800 students down that's $1.6 million that is not in our budget uh when you look at October's FTE in comparison or enrollment in comparison to the previous school year that is 143 students down also significant money that's not in our budget the only way we have to increase money is to increase students um we have been bold in embracing Choice it was one of the first things this board uh approved when I got here to ensure that we had Choice across the tire system um the state has followed in embracing choice and providing multiple Pathways for a parent to have

004the opportunity to engage in a conversation to maximize choice just not a charter school but a private school uh can be used using public funds the concern that I have is not the choice but the quality of the choice and right now Indian River County has some outstanding choices regardless of of the design or the concept whether it is a public whether it is a choice whether is it a private uh we as a community are in a good place but things are changing rapidly and any organization that would come into our community who is profing an opportunity or hope to a family needs to be able to deliver on that hope um and as the public school system I want to be their choice because we will be held accountable to the outcome of

005all of the schools in which you all collectively govern and charge me to run uh and we will be accountable not only on the outcome but extremely public uh and transparent on the funds that are being used the transportation that is being provided in the academic outcome the presentation today is looking at classical OB uh classical education there have been 18 uh classical schools that have popped up in the State of Florida over the last several years it is is one of our fastest growing choices in the State of Florida currently there are no Public Schools uh that are offering this design Miami Daye County Public Schools is uh in the process and we'll be offering one next year so they'll get to be the ones who are first uh what we are presenting today

006uh is aligned with all state statutes all requirements all policies uh we'll spend a lot of time talking in this presentation about um breaking some myths around what classical education is uh and clearly defining what it is as well as what it is not uh and then we will provide feedback or answer any questions board members may have uh I will reserve some closing comments um prior at concluding to the presentation so this time Dr shafty the floor is yours or Miss B how however you guys are doing it through the chair good afternoon thank you uh the the team has been doing quite a bit of research around this model for the last couple of months so Dr beegan and Dr shafty will present our findings through the chair open enrollment as Dr Moore

007said in school choice really ele has elevated the parents right to choose the programming that they wish for their students to experience and here we look at the three-year assessment of school choice and what we realize is that the highest counts of applicants unable to receive their first choice really are linked to schools with distinct programming the count of available Choice seats is a critical variable contributing to applicants not receiving their first selection so to quantify that in 2023 2024 the total count of available Choice seats across all elementary schools was 616 which indicates that there were approximately 1.8 requests for each available Choice seat as we look even further further analysis shows that the top three requested schools identified which would have been for across Elementary Rosewood Liberty and Oola magnet show significant increase

008in the number the number of applicants vying for available seats so that uh First Choice applicants you have about 2 point a little over two applications per available seat at Rosewood Liberty is the highest at about 2.25 applications per seat and Oola 1.7 and five so we did a lot of research what is classical education we have on the left District public uh public school education model in Florida everything that we are bound by the curriculum the federal and state regulations policies testing criteria of course we have Florida's resiliency standards we have multi-tiered system of supports or mtss we have uh intervention services esol Services um and then when we look at the classical education model that is built on the three stages of learning with a liberal arts Focus uh Dr Moore did share

009that there are 18 classical charter schools in the state of Florida we were able to make connections with some of those schools some of the administrators um and research what we were able to find online as a part of the information used for this presentation we are extremely excited uh towards the end of this week to visit True North Classical Academy in Miami and they have been an a charter school since 2016 so having the opportunity to engage in a thought partner conversation with that school being so established since 2016 will be a really great learning experience for us the classical education focuses on traditional education based on the liberal arts including Natural Sciences the Cannons of classical literature the Fine Arts and the history of civilization it involves this three-part process known as the

010Trivium and you'll read this sort of from the bottom to the top the grammar stage is what you would associate for elementary school programming it is focusing on acquiring the knowledge of basic skills facts songs Rhymes um a child at that age can really retain a lot of information through memorization and that is the focus of the grammar stage then the logic stage builds upon that teaching students to Think Through the facts and apply evidence and logic to those facts which would be almost our uh middle school and then the rhetoric stage would be upper grades where students learn to reach conclusions thoughtful criticisms um very much like the stratic method if you're familiar with that sort of instructional delivery and then in each subject students begin mastering the basic facts but then they develop

011and learn how to reason against those facts and then finally learning how to argue and support their ideas create creatively and persuasively and the sequence of these concepts are important um but just as important as the scope and sequence of the curriculum so the next uh overview is something we've combined looking at research for Frameworks for classical education um it also Embraces Ed hs's idea of Cultural Literacy across the classical education emies where students must acquire those concrete skills and gain the knowledge that provides civic participation aligned with the Trivium effective communication requires that common foundational language many of the classicaly that we have researched Embrace hersh's core knowledge sequence and that core knowledge sequence is predicated on two things that students learn A New Concept depending on what they already know and then what

012students know is a function of their previous experience so the progression from grammar to uh logic and rhetoric is very important in the sequencing and then this is just a sample of what it could look like in the K5 space the blocks and the subjects are on the left and the grade levels span across the top those are not the only a ailable curriculum but they provide a foundation for what the curriculum could be for those unique subjects the cost factors was also part of the item and there would be significant investments in the cost for year one you would have to invest in the proper professional learning as you would with anything to make sure that there are Curriculum maps pacing guides aligned to and with the standards we would probably have to account

013for salaries for teachers depending on the coursework it could be adjunct um and then the instructional materials so just some historical benchmarks last summer we spent approximately $111,000 in professional learning aligned with the ELA best standard so you could use that as a an anchor for the costs also we may have to have fees associated with classical education for example the IB annual fee is about $112,000 to have that level of accreditation and then there would be some rebranding and update work to the actual selected campus and just historical rebranding costs uh we updated and changed signage at one of our middle schools that cost approximately $100,000 and then historical upgrades to the school facade again a recent cost for that flooring sidewalk Replacements any of those things uh we spent approximately $30,000 the the

014cost if we are selecting a school that is a choice school without boundaries we would save on these costs due to um anything we would have had to pay for transportation and if fully enrolled FTE would fund a significant amount um and it would provide an opportunity to really maximize student enrollment at one of our our selected location here's our proposed timeline it is proposed because we want to hear your feedback and then a critical layer of this timeline will be the feedback from our community uh we have May and June of this year we want to survey parents in the community to assess the interest in this model as a school choice option we would like to report back the findings to the board in June and report on the boundary adjustment plan that

015would be needed once the selected location and interest is established August 2024 we would begin an instructional materials review that is again for community members parents to have a say we would U submit the bid for Publishers to submit their materials and conduct a full instructional material review starting in August we just went through that with social studies so we know we would want to start that sooner than later November would be open enrollment and students within the boundary would have the right of first refusal uh the school year 2526 we would open in a phased in approach for kindergarten in first grade at an elementary school and then each subsequent year we would expand two grade levels until we would be K5 2728 you see in there we would have to conduct some master

016planning because everything would impact enrollment at other locations and we would want to assess the impact of an expansion potentially to a K8 model in this same proposed timeline so so following this it is 100% proposed that we would have by year 8 8 years out school year 2030 31 a K12 classical education um school that should say school not Elementary we are committed in this approach to adhere to state law and board policy and how we would do that we would continue our mtss process we know that's a non-negotiable expectation to meet the needs of all students who wish to attend this school um individualized education programs and then knowing that ethics and character education is a major tenant in classical education we would rely on the state's uh Innovative resiliency standards to make

017sure that lessons impart the values of things like responsibility and goal setting so um other pieces of this briefing included the K8 School model if we were to do this right now it would be a tremendous cost uh with Mr Green's help we were able to cost out if we we looking to expand to K8 right now the cost of an existing Wing would be approximately 1.4 million and when you combine that with interest debt and future payments over 25 years that Wing would would cost us about $18 million the finance has been such a pivotal f Focus area that we believe the cost benefit calculation to a K8 right now would hinder the district infrastructure and current Capital Improvements in our planning process the boutique and Technical High School is quite an interesting um

018method as well if you picture something likeis with a focus area where the learning environment has personalized coursework almost like an acceleration for college career there is a really unique opportunity that uh we have before us to have a boutique and Technical High School um Partnerships would be Community Partners organizations and really relying on Innovative areas of Aeronautics Healthcare manufacturing Esports has become very popular um and Maritime the model would offer smaller classes almost like that college experience and then students could go uh select an elective or vocational credit that they would be able to use for college career or trade the facility would resemble a workpace very much like our CTE classes and Treasure Coast Technical College currently offers multiple career and Tech program Pathways and we would really be able to leverage that

019with a boutique in Technical High School being the only I think Technical College on the Treasure Coast and it would offer a really unique opportunity for our Community Partners and and some of the Partnerships that we could really leverage here to make sure that we're connecting the mission to really Inspire and Empower all of our students as with all of these models it would provide a unique pathway for our parents to select a model that they would feel would best meet the needs of their student learning experience so just as she closes and thank you again Dr shafty Dr Bean um a lot of conversations about what this is but the reality is it is not uh it is a political School the answer is no that is not factual it is a school uh

020solely based on religion no that is also not accurate the school is only for certain people that is also not accurate uh we have policies in place in order to ensure that if we move to a magnet school without boundaries because there is a very clearly defined need to do so uh to maintain our enrollment to maintain employees not to have a redu ruction in force we have to be aggressive uh this would be a school for all children following the choice process that you all have already created um it is an opportunity that I believe uh we have as a school system to meet what I believe is a very clearly defined need in our community we cannot let the bureaucracy of a public school system destroy the public school system we need to

021be nimble we cannot not be the taxi company and allow private and choice to be Uber and lift uh the public school system that's going to be successful in seven and eight years out uh is going to have to embrace flexibility Embrace uh being Nimble in quick to be in response to what is a ultra competitive which is the right thing to do competitive environment to educate children there are 18 uh schools across the state over the last six seven years who are providing this to their Community what we're asking the board to do is to allow us to go out to our community uh and Survey the what classical education is to validate what I believe to be true that there is in fact an opportunity there's an appetite for a fourth Magnet School

022uh because basically for every application for every one application received another student is being turned away it's a two to one we have one seat for every two children uh that are off applying to go into um our schools in bringing that back to the board uh which would be June we would provide these are the plans this is the specific School uh we would Outreach to the specific Community as Dr shafty said uh we are not going to move any anyone's apple cart over the course of a transition if you are currently in a school uh you can continue at in that school in the same design that you're currently being educated until you exit out no one's being displaced if you are in the boundaries of a specific school that is selected you

023would have the opportunity to say yes or no first before we opened it up to full Choice um while at the same time it provides us the opportunity to increase enrollment and to maximize enrollment at schools we as a board cannot have schools that run it 50% we can no longer afford to do that I think this is one feasible solution to address that very specific concern that must be addressed in coming back to the board we will have a fully vetted plan on a creating a K8 model uh over the course of time so any child who enters this program when it opens in K or first grade uh as you transition into six School the intent would be that there would be a 6 through eight model available at that specific site and

024then in year four or five of the plan we would conduct uh prior to that year four or five a complete feasibility study a master plan uh and we waiting to do it at that spefic specific time because we collectively need to have a better understanding as to the impact of choice uh so we need to create a plan to determine uh do we still need to have four middle schools in four years from now is that going to be a reality can one of them be transitioned into that Boutique High School uh we have the only Technical College on the Treasure Coast are there opportunities to expand programming uh to include a high school component in that specific environment that allows us to also address that specific issue so that would address all of

025the items for for the board at this time we'd be happy to answer any questions you may have Madam chair board members you guys I'll go last I have questions I'll go last I usually go first I'll go last okay go ahead doc first of all thank you for all of this information detailed information I too have been trying to research and review everything I can about classical school classical education and for me I think it's going to come down to visiting one and um looking at it I think Dr Moore you said that there was going to be one in Miami that would be classical public school coming this year correct correct they're they had an item very similar come to their staff they're probably three or four months ahead of us us and

026and their timeline and and we did reach out and have conversations with them about the research that they have done but there are classical public charter schools yes one of which we are visiting uh this Friday right um me you're right there's a lot of questions and concerns about this so again I'm for me it's just going to be Hands-On and visual take a look at what's going on and asking our community I think is very very important um with the survey but I also think when we asked in the survey we should have more than just one example what could it look like if we're going to do a magnet school and it's a classical magnet school is that what we would be calling it or would there be another theme that goes along

027with it through the chair there there's two things that I I prior to receiving feedback from the board we need to a validate there is an interest even though the data says that there is for a second nonboundary Magnet School okay uh we have basically two in the in the South one in the north um that's straightforward and then what I would do is assess initially yes this is what classical education is uh this is some research on what it is this is what it is not uh is there interest in having this specific model based on what is being provided to the community to evaluate and then from there uh bring that information back to the board with a comprehensive plan so if we choose a certain Elementary School to be this area those

028who are already there would have first choice to stay correct because we've done it a little bit differently with magnet schools throughout the years and then after that we would do school choice Lottery like we are doing now it would adhere to the same exact procedures as the three current Elementary Magnet Schools when we're looking at the future also with um the number of students we've lost and going into a year without Esser funds and we're looking at professional development um how will we be getting that money to truly start a magnet school like this so through the chair the quick and dirty of the cost analysis is it cost a heck of a lot more money to run a half empty School than it does to provide additional training and development um to you

029know to have a fully staffed school so we're bleeding out with half full schools um so yeah there would be some initial upfront cost um and some of it would be embedded cost meaning we're going to do professional development every summer for all of our schools this development may look a little bit different based on the theme and the concept but it doesn't extend the the cost so in the end of the day you know there's two major cost savings full schools meaning the children at the school fund the principal's position the assistant the principal's position the counselor's position the custodians positions we have schools right now in which we basically have to take money from other schools to fund a a half uh full School the other is being full Choice uh you're reducing

030Transportation costs because you're not running transport boundar uh Transportation because it is a the magnet school is provide your own transportation we'll still do the depot but those are built upon established routes and you mentioned um this would obviously follow our guidelines with um the representation of our diversity as we have in our magnet schools now absolutely right now um that is board policy as it relates to the current magnet schools Dr Moore what would be the difference now with our let's say Elementary we have amplify and we're teaching the standards what would they do differently in the classical school I know I get into details and I'm going to have to see it and I will I'll go but can anybody help me that I attempt to answer that question I didn't do as

031good as I would like to hold myself accountable let me have Miss um Dr sha to answer that question how would it be any different if you will so that could be your unique curriculum for literature uh we actually I say we Dr Bean has done a fantastic job connecting with a school who uses amplify because amplify is ckla core knowledge based on the tenants that could be aligned to classical education um but you would need some distinct additional supporting curriculum like grammar you would need um probably something to connect it stronger to and with Civic so we would look at the framework that uh we displayed there and make sure that we have supporting curriculum to meet the needs of the scope and sequence of a similar framework like that amplify our blocks typically

032are English language arts blocks where there's uh a unique mix of writing reading speaking where where these blocks would be very intentional with the scope and sequence of responding to literature how we approach the pedagogy of really being Hands-On students having their own materials that they are text coding um not so much of a Reliance on the digital aspect of how we deliver instruction like steam programming would be but it's the approach to making sure that we are aligned to the memorization the facts and the core subject areas that are represented in classical education okay who wrote the curriculum who wrote I mean we're looking at amplify but other things that are added to classical who who's the sponsor of that who wrote it um there are various models uh great books would be some

033of the literature pieces we see for math over and over again we're seeing Singapore Math um in Singapore yep okay um now what I do want to see is I understand we're in a competitive World 100% and yes I want our certified teachers teaching this that is a given I'm very very proud of this public school system but you know I keep getting a lot of questions on it um when we look at um preparing for the future with our students and none of us can really predict it um with less technology how are we preparing our students and I know technology has some really good parts and the parts we have to be careful of but with less technology how are we improving our students as they go into that K8 Boutique High School

034model because that's our future Dr you want to talk through the design you want to talk through the design so technology is still embedded in these schools but it wouldn't be the main way that you deliver instruction so you would not walk into a classroom and see the like a canvas or some sort of learning management platform where kids are solely interacting with that the knowledge really should come from the instructor in these spaces but it's not to say that you're not going to see technology but it's not going to be the way in which the content is delivered first got it okay and again I'm just going to have to look I mean I will be I'll be going to one of the schools I want to see it I'm sorry I'm visual I'm

035kinesthetic and I want to see and be able to express to our parents what this is you know what I mean um so they would not have a one-on-one model like our kids do they they could they could okay they could and that would be the beauty of us as a school district being able to still ad here to the tenants of classical education while embedding things to still meet the needs of that student population at that school and I remember when this came up Miss barenborg made an amendment and I'm glad she did because you know we've been talking about ka8 we've been talking about Boutique high school I'm always talking about looking at better and more prek for our students because I think that's a very very very important now I looked at

036the three components I believe they're grammar critical learning and Abstract learning so you're looking at basically Elementary Middle High School as we move forward with that um a lot of memorization can you just be a little bit more specific on that sure so honestly it reminds me of how I went to school I can ask me what to say I'll tell you I memorize I I hear classical but it's to me very a Traditional School where you I would anticipate that there are spelling lists you are breaking apart sentences identifying the subject and the predicate it is a traditional approach to learning that students some students can be very responsive to that model as can some of our teachers who enjoy delivering instruction through very similar blocks but it it's visually very much how I

037went to school yeah I know yeah me too I had a grammar book a spelling book I know talk grammar um just I'll probably have a few more questions I let board members do this but I again I just want to make sure that when we are doing our survey for our parents um I'm sorry did you answer will it be another theme with this Magnet or just classical school that is the theme I think the initial attempt is to assess classical first and if we have validation that classical is the there is a true demand for it um my recommendation would be that we move forward with classical now if it comes back being something different then we would look at other other models I have just in doing a number of surveys if

038you're asking someone to compare something that they do not yet see or can touch or be a part of versus something that there is your data is not going to be reliable they're going to I because I know this model or we have this current kind of school they're going to they're going to tend to go towards what they know versus what they don't know so I believe you have to assess first independently the unknown based on the descriptions in which we provide so it is in fact valid comparing one thing that doesn't exist to something that does exist right would not provide reliable data and so you're looking for if you really look toward the future because we've talked about a K8 model you're looking at that to be K12 like located at the

039boutique high school or through the a a a K8 model that would take whatever this theme ended up being right now assessing classical would take you through eth grade uh because very similar to IB IB you start at Liberty you go to Sebastian you go to uh Sebastian senior right uh it is very it is structured differently than the traditional uh honors class or AP class that they're taking same model holds true so we need to be consistent to the model just as we are in IB so where would end up in the the 912 space uh would be an answer that we would have in year four or five based on the the PowerPoint have you done any research on those that have been basically K12 I know obviously they're their Charter or private

040and how those students are doing in college or anything like that so I I have I can answer that question two two ways um a my personal response I have one daughter who graduated through H school and this is how she was educated uh and she is the world's best uh and then I have uh one daughter who was homeschooled but then returned in ninth grade and had a traditional High School experience and thrived in at at Beach High School um so is it for everybody no but it is it for people who want to assess and say this is the the best best way to educate my specific child and if it is then we need to have a choice um for that um that doesn't NE that's a a roundabout question uh I

041I I think you need to stay true to the model all the way through very similar to IB um in the 18 schools I don't know that there is I know in Miami at True North they have a high school component Dr Bean you may have schools from your previous role that that were into the secondary level so through the chair uh my answer to that would be the schools that we've researched uh they are adding grade levels into secondary uh each Progressive year and the results have been tremendous uh both from an academic perspective as well as a retention perspective um I think the piece in uh specific to students they are continuing to add additional cohorts just based on the demand so they have between 30 and 50 students for each of those

042cohorts um and the schools are they are building additional campuses just based on the demand that they've had okay so I'll I'll end with this part um we still must teach State Standards it's not connected to any religion is that correct okay um we will have the diversity that we are bound to by Schoolboard policy um there was one other thing what else did you say it was not I'm sorry it is not political it is open for all so the just to to rephrase it um we have a school board policy that that mirrors our our magnet schools aligned to the overall enrollment of our County which all schools are in compliance with uh I think done correctly that's not even an issue um we will adhere to the state standards that's part of

043the the co identifying of curriculum and the creating of what would be our pacing guide scope and sequence Frameworks that we would use um we and we will be accountable to those specific outcomes these students at the end of every year will still have to take the fast assessment uh and done correctly uh as it is in a lot of the IB programs um that fast assessment becomes secondary to the drive and the depth of the instruction that we're providing we'll supersede um the the state the state assessments um but ultimately yes your teachers will in fact be certified uh the outcome the academic growth will all be displayed based on uh the state's grading system um and I like I said I I would like to visit a school I'll do that on my

044own after your recommendation but um was Latin involved again this is my notes Latin yes Dr sha do you want to speak some Latin I do not want to speak Latin but um thank you for the offer but there would be a focus on the Latin roots or the Greek roots that help the Latin roots okay yeah because I took French in high school and I should have taken Spanish I'm telling you that's all for now thank you thank you ltin helps a lot for medical education I'll give you that um I think based on the data you've presented and the research um from A needs assessment standpoint I think it makes a lot of sense to continue to explore the idea of a classical education track um and I think if we're looking at

045how we can grow this District into the future um it makes sense to grow it in a way uh that the community is going to want to be a part of that and so this offers something in a Cutting Edge way that is not offered generally in public school districts so I I I think it's it's pretty Cutting Edge I think it's something that um I'd be very happy for us to do as a district um and then additionally uh the technical Technical High School and potentially offering technical trade classes in our high schools is something I very much support um and and how we can go about doing that uh is something I think we should continue to look at as well um because I do think um prioritizing and making sure it's available

046uh attracts in into trades and Technical education I think is critical for our kids' future there's a lot of kids who would be better off going to a trade school than uh the Normal University track um and we need to make sure they they have the option available to them and uh can maybe realize it early enough in their education they can take advantage of it um so I I look forward to the continued research that you're we're going to be doing over the next few months and uh I support it so thank you so much um for taking this on and for doing the research um I know that you all have been working really hard to present this today so I am um have to contain my excitement on this on this topic

047um because we're not quite there yet but some of the um things that Dr Jones uh questioned I'd just like to piggy back off of um I classical learning does not as you as you mentioned Dr shafty does not take away any of the the technology um I think you coined it perfectly when you said it's not the main gist of how students receive the instruction you know it's not the main thing it's not the main medium I should say um but it it would be because we have a policy that is uh oneon-one here technology is one-on-one for students and that shouldn't change um I do have a question about the uh finances uh one of the questions I the way that you uh positioned this in your proposition Dr Moore um it seems

048as if the finances and and there that you said there would be a slight cost for opening up this new school but we're not building a new building so and taking a if we were to reduce one or two schools and put them in one currently that we have and then keep that one building and and just kind of rename it Rebrand it for a classical school in our district um and as you said it costs more to run a half empty School than it does to have a fully functioning school it seems to me that it would just be more of realignment of where those funds are going because that school would still be in effect running as it is with the need of whatever curriculum it would be using if it were a

049traditional Public School whereas you're just moving students you're not moving funding really it's just going to be funding under a different name and different category kind of thing is that right is that a good way of kind of through the chair um that that's that is accurate there would be some The Branding doesn't that's that would be a new additional cost some of the purchase of the curriculum would be a a minor cost some of the bringing the staff in like we do in other schools uh to help create the framework so we want them to be a part of it which is a that's the most exciting thing for me if you know whoever the principal ends up being it's a Once in a-lifetime opportunity to design and create a school from scratch that's

050like a dream come true uh and to do it with your staff oh my gosh so much fun but the cost is not a barrier or an obstacle IAL or a burden on us at all okay so you're basically correct okay and um so so uh really initially if we were to open up a classical school I think the the the thought was to begin with a k through three and then every year adding a grade is that kind of where your mindsets are anyone or you're just going to it was it was K1 K1 the intention there is to be able to continue to provide for the current K And1 students in two three and four um the opportunity if they choose not to have this design they can stay at that particular school

051and have kind of the parallel track of the traditional education we're already providing okay so it certainly would be you know very small cost for curriculum for a k And1 to begin in K And1 correct um okay and um one of the other um concerns or questions that I think Dr Jones asked had something to do with what classical the classical school really is or a classical model really is and I and I just want to reiterate the importance of having the classical curriculum which really makes a school classical it's the curriculum and how it is used it's the M it's the framework around the curriculum that the students are using that sets them apart because then otherwise it's just another public school if you don't use classical curriculum then what's the point um laen

052by the way I think I've I wouldn't want to speak it either I just wouldn't um but I think that if I could change anything homeschooling my son I think I would have put him in LA because his vocabulary you know I I think there's a there are a lot of benefits to it Dr PCA mentioned it you know eventually there's a lot of Latin because Latin is such a dead language it's not changing so you that's why a lot of medical fields and and even the legal field I'm sure Mr ansbacher can can attest to that you know use a lot of Latin as their root phrases in terminology and stuff like that I think um so and also with the SAT let's not forget about SAT scores and the now we have the

053classical learning test which is also approved by the Florida Department of Education as um an approved alternative to the traditional sat or the act that high school students can take to get into college and that classical learning test aligns with classical curriculum so it really does speak on uh or really address you know the rhetoric and some of the other Concepts that are provided in the classical education model um most importantly are the great books that you mentioned the great literature the liter you know Shakespeare and I don't have the list I do have a list here but um as a sample but some of those are captured within the classical learning test that I think is a perfect you know um um parallel I gu you know or or a connector for these students

054once they get through 12 my you we talked about going K 12 and you stopped at K8 in this presentation so what happens to our students in e8th grade I thought we were going to go K12 through the chair that the the intent is to get to K12 okay in year five we would make that decision classical learning test also you you you mentioned it but it's also approved by the floor Department of Education to use as a concordance score for graduation just as the SAT or act is uh and our principles are reporting that we're finding great success with our current students uh as they take that assessment um in order to allow them to graduate from high school meeting the requirements yeah so so that's good so the the classical learning test also

055has annual um uh I guess you can call them diagnostic tests which students especially in the classical learning it could be for anyone anyone can take them but um they really do help for the lower grades so it's not just the the tests that you take to go into college but you can take them I think they start at like sixth grade uh I'm not sure about third grade maybe I'm wrong but anyway you can do the research on that but again that seems to be a good um thing to consider when you're proposing the next proposal that you bring to us in the summer or whatever it is um how we can kind of embed um the classical learning test in in the framework of whatever you're going to present to us okay so

056the cost benefit one of the what what I saw and correct me if I'm wrong uh what I heard was that there the cost benefit to having a K8 is $5.9 million I think I saw that in the slide I might be wrong if I'm saying that if if I'm correct or wrong correct me but what would be the cost benefit of having a K12 through the chair we'd have to do that research that that's not the research that we that we did okay okay um also the classical let's assume that we're going to open up a new school classical Magnet School um this school doesn't NE in my mind doesn't necessarily because it would be somewhat Boutique it doesn't necessarily have to be similar in size to our current elementary schools correct you can

057have a small classical that's still an attractor school and it's still increases choice and increases enrollment so it doesn't necessarily have to be a 500 pupil School correct it does not have to but I think that's going to be the demand okay okay and um okay so I'm going to just talk a little bit now on the instructional review process for the curriculum moving forward um and I know it might be a little too early to bring this up up now but I do again I I've mentioned before I have concerns about amplify because I know you only had that up there as a sample so I'm not assuming that that's going to be um you know what we are going to adopt um but I just have concerns about amplify only that amplify may

058or may not may not is my concern may not have or include within the curriculum some of the great books or great literature p pieces that are needed for some of these other so that's the part there that we need to we need to be careful about is if we are going to embed like the CLT exam as a diagnostic throughout the year for some of our kids then we really need to keep the literature part of it as classical as possible um not saying amplify is bad amplify is great but in this particular School environment it might be better to stick with a traditional classical literature-based curriculum um and then finally I'll just say um some of the concerns over again what classical is that sets it apart differently um than traditional public I

059mean you did a great job there but um I think logic and rhetoric and philosophy other than the Latin piece of it are very very embedded within the framework of classical so that logic is that critical thinking piece the reasoning the um the inferences um uh the study of thought essentially you know um I know we've heard of you know teach students how to think don't teach them what to think that really comes out of this whole um idea of logic or the really the definition of Lo logic and then the rhetoric piece of it is really the art of effective speaking and writing um and you know I I know script people have talked about you know learning how to write script again that's embedded within the classical you know education model um speech

060and debate compositional um strategies and te and techniques are embedded in that economics is embedded in it obviously we've talked about Civics Civics being Civics minded but um the respect and discipline and studiousness about you know around classical education all of that you know traditional teacher-led methods of instruction all of that is really um it it creates the environment of the success for classical lastly um Dr Jones did mention how are other schools doing I know you had up there um I think it was Brandon McCoy you had a quote from Brandon McCoy I did a Google Search and I came up with Brandon McCoy's um issue brief on classical education um and there were three classical schools that were in this issue brief Nashville classical charter school and the results because Dr Jones wanted

061to know the results South Bronx classical was in there and there was a third one that AR uh Washington Latin Public Charter School um the South Bronx classical curriculum or the South Bronx classical school education School in New York C City in this report it says that um for results um it begins with Latin is a gateway language to cultures around the world languages whose influence spans continents such as Spanish French Italian Portuguese all are rooted in Latin second long points these are in their results second long points uh to research showing that learning Latin correlates to higher SAT scores um and and then of course third according to Long Latin signifies Elite status there's no reason these kids can't um of course think for themselves and but in the results they not only greatly

062surpass neighboring schools but are positive outliers for New York State and New York of course has millions of students in their um in their school system um in Nashville classical um I will share that it does say compared with other public schools in the area Nashville classical more than doubles its students proficiency rates in math 64.5% verse 29.9% that's incredible and nearly doubles their proficiency rates in ela from 49.2% versus 25.9% black students in Nashville classical also achieve far higher rates of proficiency in ela and math compared to their counterparts um the student body itself is a majority minority 62% are listed as black and 8% are listed as Hispanic given the there's more uh given the results that Nashville classical produces um of course the goals are to to ensure Excellence is celebrated and

063Excellence is essentially reached so there are schools that are doing it successfully um I'm excited to see where this would go um I want you to go ahead and do the research do the do whatever you have to do when you bring this to us again I guess in the summer or whenever you bring the results is that going to be the moment where you bring to us a full proposal is that the goal the goal is to bring an action item an action item yes okay that's what I wanted so right now we're not doing an action item we're just blessing you with the work to go forth and you know do the research and do the surveys and so on yeah that's so the board unanimously approved this this briefing which in my

064mind directs the work moving forward um and there'll be no shifts or change in practice uh any shifts or change in practice would come through that action item in which I would be seeking approval from the board uh to sh you know establish the fullon choice school to uh begin the work to shift or modify boundaries conduct those Town Hall meetings it will be a r rather large briefing because it's just not one thing it's multiple things very similar to the um start times but it will be an action item that will allow us to go and do the work based on what we what we've already found and what we will continue to find and um I'm sorry sorry I just as you're talking I thought what about um our our um Grants Department

065um writing grants or receiving grants to offset some of the finances in this rebranding that we may need or some of the the budgetary concerns that might come about through the chair already doing that research um and it would be negligent of us not to do that uh there are plenty magnet schools of America would be an example um where they could provide additional funding for a startup of a magnet school so um we've been working with them and trying to put proposals in with magnet schools of America uh through Dr Ericson so that may be one of the things that we pursue and trying to find basically a startup money uh or additional funding to offset the minimal expense we would have thank you are you done yes okay all right um couple things

066Latin so um took a lot of Latin embedded courses so a lot of prefixes and suffixes but not true Latin wish I had um because I agree with you I think it's a language that it's based our language is based on Latin you know I went to the universi for Titus montis which is the University of the Green Mountains which a lot of um colleges use Latin in their um in their language of their college so um it's not dead it is a an older language it's still being based on other languages are based on it so it is truly an an important thing for people to at least learn the RO roots and the suffixes um so that they understand um you know especially if they're going into medicine or something like that they

067understand what they're talking about so I'm I'm all for that um the question I had about Latin is who's going to teach it is it going to be embedded roots and suffixes into the curriculum that's there and any teacher can be prepped to do that or do we need to hire adjunct teacher to teach Latin because that's not something everybody's trained to do through the chair Mr Green can learn things really quick so he um we don't have an answer for that but I think we can be creative in finding a solution okay um Singapore Math we had it here a couple years ago and I had friends that taught with Singapore and loved it and the parents loved it it was a lot of drill and practice um some parents didn't love it but

068then again if it's a magnet school and the parents know that's what's coming you know that's great I think it's and it gave great results so I'm all for bringing Singapore Math back um religion so I took a course when I was in a public Middle School called um oh gosh what was it called World cultures and we studied cultures and the religion that they prac practiced I thought it gave me a really good indication of learning tolerance and acceptance of other people and so if that's what we're looking at to learn about the cultures and the religions of lots of different places I think that's a great thing to do um versus learning scripture and everything else so that's the part where I think we'd get in trouble um mostly teaching tolerance and acceptance

069I think that's that's key so thank you for investigating this but also the K8 which we've been kind of talking around um you know there are k8s out there that we compete with and I think bringing in that slowly where we can afford it would be great because we lose kids um because of traditional middle schools not for everybody you know think about how many fifth graders we have I like that number actually how many fifth graders do we have and then how many sixth graders do we have in our middle schools that would be an interesting number to look at because are we losing them when they're going there through the chair the variance I've asked that question four years ago and ask it every single year the variance isn't as high as you

070think it would be but what is high is the academic outcome from a fifth grade to a sixth grade the transition um which this year principles have done an amazing job of create creating in school concepts for each of their sixth graders so their sixth graders are all housed in one specific building using a team concept so we're not going to see it as drastic as we have in previous years trying to combat what the data is telling us so the number of fifth graders to sixth graders isn't um overly significant um but when a parent has we reduce the decision points meaning if I get into this school and it takes me all the way through 8th grade the opportunity to exit the public school system uh is eliminated because you don't have the

071decision to make from fifth to sixth and I agree uh Middle School is a a great space um but not for all and you know look at our academic loss that we have when that tradition think about every time a student moves from one school to another school even an elementary school you know um when I was a principal and I have kids that were transient that had five schools in one year you know they were so far behind because of that loss same thing kind of happens when they go from fifth grade to sixth grade and then from e8th grade to ninth grade that adjustment is a real issue um you know I taught Middle School we had team approach but we also had only those kids so I had like 120 kids that

072had I worried about not 500 kids which was great because I knew them all and all the teachers you know met with all the parents and everything so I thought it was a a great thing to do looking at a K8 I've taught it a K8 I thought it was going to be um a little nerve-wracking especially the K8 that we we kind of move from an F school um I thought it was going to be rough having eighth graders with little kids it was the opposite um they really look out for them they're like big brothers and sisters they they take care of those little kids because they were those little kids at that school some some point before when the school eventually got older um so I think that K8 model is really

073important because um that not that movement and transition is not easy for a lot of kids so the less transition and movement we can do would be better and the the teachers all know the kids for longer so that helps too obviously um music Pro program if we're doing a classical school are they going to learn learn classical music so would they have a string program it really depends on some of the schools that we've looked at so there could be a fine arts focus a visual arts Focus Performing Arts Focus but it's some sort of extracurricular that would be unique to the school the example we found would be art and music they'd learn the history theory and practice in that grammar stage and then start to apply it as they move through the

074progression of grammar logic rhetoric um okay still physical education that makes sense and then um you know grants were mentioned but how about an Appropriations Bill o because um we've got a um a governmental body that is very into um more conservative action and this is a more conservative action so I think bringing an Appropriations Bill to our Representatives would be a really good course of action I think it would be very well received outstanding idea and I would although you just had the idea like four seconds ago I think for that K8 model might be actually I've been baning around for a while with some people yeah um but I think I think Appropriations bill is is is the way to go um as we're doing this a line it with our legislative platform

075and um work on trying to get an Appropriations bill for this it's not easy to get Appropriations through but I think one this one might be a really good one to to ride on we are one for one so let's there you go that's all I have one more yes I'm sorry um outstanding classical learning test and I have talked to principles about some students graduating with that who in the classical curriculum I keep hearing about who who creates the classical learning test classical curriculum is there a publisher just so I continue to study Miss B I don't I don't have the the immediate response but it is the the assessment that is coming from the specific organization just as the SAT is act is so it's not it is a very specific normed reference

076test that they all are taking the exact same test right and I remember Dr McMahon giving me the number there were there were some add did it because of that I'm glad for the graduation um again once you see some good school do you think I could visit oh absolutely I and I would recommend all board members to if if we we can find one there's pineapple Cove that is in Bard County yes there's one that is in although it's not it wasn't recommended that we visit that specific one um let us do that research and I I'll definitely extend that invitation and I want to say one thing Miss barenberg just said I was talking to repres resented bracket about something the other day he said look at Appropriations doc I said okay it

077was something else yeah I I actually talked to him a little bit about this too um when you mentioned that uh visiting schools though you would have it so that board members would go separately to those schools right we it doesn't really it it we can do a field trip if you if you can do that you can notice it as long as you're not you know I mean once again we can't let the bureaucracy get in the way of us I know but I'm saying put it out there in the thank thank you I do want to thank I'm sorry go ahead yeah I I just wanted to um I just wanted to um just comment on the Appropriations bill or the suggestion for that um I think it is a great idea um

078the Mastery learning there was something about Mastery learning I've talked about that quite a bit with math specifically um that are and I don't know if you remember the math portion of many of our textbooks are very very busy so Pages very there's lots of stuff on it um my son was getting very very confused and overwhelmed with some math curriculum you know early on in his elementary school days that I didn't even realize it was causing him a lot of frustration and he couldn't get it until one day he just said the page is just too busy mom and so that's where my light bulb went off and I found Matthew c um which is in Singapore you know but but Matthew see the pages I I'm I'm telling you it works this Mastery

079learning the pages are just examples of the actual skill that is learned right the lesson the skill that is learned there's like 15 pages of skill that needs to learn to apply to different examples and then at the end there's um some spiral activities where you go back and you kind of review some of the prior but by then he has mastered that current skill whereas in Tradition other math textbooks they're doing 20 pages of spiraling and only a little bit of that Mastery work so it's for my son he just it was just too much it was like I just need to learn the ma the skill for this particular math lesson and then go back and it work I mean he has taught himself you know all the way through up until you

080know through algebra and wherever he is now I'm just it worked Works especially for students who are ADHD who have ad you know that the the page just the things that are on the page when it's too busy they you can't think you know straight you're like what what am I supposed to do first and the pages are very simple there's lots of space in there I'm getting nodded there's lots of space in there to actually do the example on that page instead of having three different or rewriting it in a notebook it matters it makes a big difference and I I'm I'm pushing this issue again because I don't believe that our district or any District should only uh adopt one math textbook which is what we do we adopt only one and everybody

081learns from that one um I have always been of the mindset that we should have at least two so that in the classroom if a student is stuck on you know whatever it whatever the chapter is if they're stuck you can always pull from and I'm just going to use Matthew c as an example you can pull from Matthew C and just have them learn that Mastery skill and then return back to where the class is or just let them have that's differentiating instruction right giving the student what they need and we have to address our m is math issues as a district just in general so that's a something that I think moving forward um especially with curriculum and instruction like we really need to rethink how math is taught and what we're providing

082to students in the in the math classrooms um lastly with regard to Latin is dead um or Not Dead just want to um pull this up here um The Times of India says that like other languages such as Sanskrit and greek latin does not have any native speakers giving it the title of dead language uh the britanica um why is Latin a dead language a dead language is one where no longer where it's no longer learned as the first language or used in ordinary uh communication um ancient Language Institute um disagrees with that which is fine it says that it's not uh that your teachers deliberately lie to you they simply repeated uh the widely circulated claim that they also heard someone else um but it doesn't actually state that someone is actually speaking Latin

083today so I think that's where I came from when I said Latin is dead is that it's not a spoken language it's not a native spoken language that's you know you go to a country and you you'll hear it um being spoken today so from the legal standpoint though right from the legal standpoint um doesn't it help even from the medical standpoint doesn't it help you know in when when you're using it because it's not changing you know grammar is not changing syntax isn't changing uh the the dictionary definition of some of them are not changing those things are not changing which could change in any other language correct it helps you get to use cool phrases yeah but it's still being used today in our you know for you know vocabulary development and sat

084development all that you know so I mean it's still being used which is interesting but anyway what is Latin for code of conduct because that is the next item so you brought up at the beginning of that conversation about Appropriations what does that have to do with appropriation what does what have to do the math and no those are separate things I just make separate comments okay all right um moving on I thank you madam chair and thank you for the oh thank you to our team oh okay I to say uh there was a vote you're the vice chair and absolutely thank you to our team it has been refreshing to do uh a great deal of work around teaching and learning it's been very very rewarding we have learned a lot and we

085will continue to learn a lot um the next item is the code of conduct I'll set this up for Mr Seymour and I just want to acknowledge the board pushed really really hard on the code of conduct last year and the results have been absolutely outstanding in terms of the volume of instruction that we can focus in on instead of running behind cell phones um the the the structure in schools is uh specifically in our secondary schools absolutely much better place uh and I want to congratulate our principals who continue to push still some work to be done but but ultimately um out outstanding push based on the volume of change that we experienced last school year with that I'll turn it over to Mr Seymour for the presentation thank you uh through the chair

086first um piggybacking off of what Dr Moore stated um we did not have a lot of work to do but that validates the work that was done last year um also we want to commend Mrs Heather Holden and um Miss Ashley Dell who was really behind this project and kept everything together in addition to that our stakeholders um in the district and the community and students and their feedback fed right into our plan of action again there was not a lot of changes but we had everyone involved that made a difference in this process and I wanted to thank them for that um I don't know if you guys want to go line for line but what I will do is share all of the um changes that took place and if you have any

087particular questions I don't need it yet okay any particular questions um we'll have Miss Ashley Dale come up but I'm going to name some of the changes that are mentioned um it was um revised to improve readability increased Clarity uh did added section three student safety and health and and the appendix relocated appropriate content to each section added clear and specific guidelines to private spaces and artificial intelligence revise current guidelines for bullying vaping and cell phones and replac and updated the forms that are now in the appendix also um they made it a little bit more colorful and I think that they that changed really showed where um everyone can go without searching so far actually included many colorful changes that you can recognize from page to page that's to the creativity of Miss Dell

088uh new actions for elementary schools and what one of the concerns was and I think you guys brought that to our attention as well is the difference between a a high school student 11th 12th grade uh being suspended 10 days versus an act occurring in an elementary school which through the student code of conduct could be the same act but at a younger age the thought process is not yet there to make those great decisions that they need to do each and every day so there is a lot of room in there for principles to make decisions based on the age of a child and that wasn't in there before also you the additional notification and and to and do process rights uh it's been added and um all of the information as far as

089um bullying must include three elements and the three elements are defined within that code of conduct and um that will be you know pretty much the updates that were made at the time any any specific questions that you might have I do um if you can go to well just a comment first on page 15 um the addition of the language including AI for cheating and plagiarism um and then there's a line there that was added um that says inappropriate use of AI would then be let me pull mine up 15 sorry okay I'll have Miss Dale come up and join me sure where's my oh here it is ready so on page 15 there was an um uh new language that was added to the first checkbox cheating plagiarism including AI um and a

090new item that was added in inappropriate use of artificial intelligence um I think both of those are great I'm glad the committee um is recommending that we add that there uh I have concerns with AI um so if someone and and there may not be an answer right now which is fine because this is all kind of somewhat new uh the world of AI and how it's impacting our our students by the way we had this conversation I think at our last Workshop it might have been about Ai and I met with a student from Indian River State College um the student is taking economics um I think Advanced economics the professor is mandating making students take their quizzes and exams using AI I'm like is that possible you have to use a particular platform

091for this class to use AI to develop your an ERS and then have ai I guess help you think through how what whatever and I was shocked and this was an economics class like I think that crosses the boundary of you know free thought and you know the use of AI it really crosses the boundary um and just because people are doing it doesn't make it right and we have an opportunity to to make sure that we don't allow even though the world is moving in the direction of artificial int intelligence we have to be the body that says up until a certain point and then we're going to stop full stop it doesn't go any further than this because we remove the opportunity for students to be creative thinkers to really I want students

092to be able to write their own compositions using their own thinking their own knowledge their own you know learning and not depend on and artificial intelligence to help them create that that's the kind of person that I'm looking for uh you know to to to educate um and so why I support this is is for that reason however if a student is receives this in appropriate use of artificial intelligence we have to be able to support the principal or the parent and saying well where is that definition what are examples of inappropriate uses of AI and so so you may not have that answer here because I know sure enough it's going to come up at some point so we have to develop or you all have to develop some way of saying this is

093inappropriate or that's inappropriate and what would that be so we do have a I don't know if this is on we okay now it's good okay we do have a um General generalized definition in the glossery that we added and it states that computer systems that are taught to automate and perform tasks that typically require human intelligence um is what AI is is considered AI includes a variety of applications and tools including and we have this in quotes generative AI such as chat GPT so that's kind of our general um definition of what AI constitutes at this time and then we also have um that in the in this did I miss that yes it is on page 51 in the glossery oh the glossery okay so okay let me come back to 15 can

094we put an asterisk or a little note on the bottom for definition C page 51 yes and I'm actually glad that you brought that up because all of the um all of the items throughout that have a um glossery definition they're linked they're hyperlink and I'm not sure that we added that let me see that one does not have it so they are all hyperlink and it states that at the beginning of the document that everything that is underlined is hyperlink so when we actually go to print this will have a line under it so I'll need to go back and add that hyperlink okay um so the Assumption for someone reading the definition it just says such as um is it important for us and I guess this would be a legal issue would

095it be important for us to say but not limited to which means it could be anything else is that in the form of a question to me yes sorry okay um through the chair I I think that such as is open-ended uh but if we wanted to make it absolutely clear that it was open-ended to to add uh including but not limited to the following makes it from a legal standpoint all the more but either one is an open-ended definition so few so such as but not limited to got it I just want because this is such a new arena for us fairly new I just want us to be able to have um the latitude to determine what would be inappropriate if that comes up um something else page 30 on bullying let me

096go back up okay so last year's um code of conduct committee uh there were a lot of people who were present and it was very there were a lot of changes this year there weren't that many because last year that you all did everybody did really well at um changing the code of conduct to adhere to not only new statutes um but to really make sure that we are uh embracing and practicing zero bullying and you know really coming down on using Electronics in the classroom however this here looks like we're adding this year to my understanding and to my knowledge and I might be wrong because I haven't seen the data and it hasn't been brought up um but the data the information on bullying has not really been an issue as it has

097in the past um and I'm thinking that that might be the ca I might be wrong but I'm thinking that that might which is a good thing if I'm if I'm correct which would really I think complement be a complement to our the changes that we made in last year code of conduct and how it's being implemented in the schools right zero tolerance if it happens like we only had three um consequences for offenses and that was it now it looks like we're adding more things to do which might be the right thing to do but I don't want to reduce the mindset that we were in last year and then have us you know take three steps forward and then wind up taking six steps back so all of these that were added here

098for the outcomes of bullying can you talk a little bit about them please yes of course so um we actually received feedback um from all of our administrators again um ensuring that they had a voice in this um process um because they are the ones who have to you know live it day in and day out so our Elementary School principal specifically um expressed some concerns about um assigning an automatic 10day out of school suspension um for their students there's a lot of great areas there's a lot of things to consider especially with our younger students and so what you see here is something different only for elementary so we have that top yes so we have that top section is for our K to 5 and the second section is what we currently have

099in place for all students K to 12 so this would now uh simply provide another Avenue for our elementary administrators to really be able to provide supports and really make sure the students understand what Bolen is it gives them multiple opportunities to um just just have those supports in place for their students you see that there is a safety plan that's involved with specific interventions um we the parents should at you know would we would request that the parents be involved in creating that safety plan um but also really focusing on not so many times we focus on the potential victim which is important but we don't support that uh potential offender with learning new skills and strategies to be able to cope with any challenges that they experience um thank you for for pointing

100that out I looking at the chart I totally didn't even see the grade there which I should have and I'm I'm I'm grateful that makes total sense I'm glad that you clarified that um and then Mr Seymour we talked the other day and I can't find the page about that one item that needed to be changed the language that was the the attendance yeah where for after school yes extracurricular activities uh it was sitting at 90% of attendance is necessary for a student to participate in the programs and it was recommended that it move to 95% so what we did in speaking with with principles is they already have plans in place to create um contracts with students so we were suggesting you modify the language to ensure that the school has the opportunity to

101create a contact uh to maximize students participation while at the same time addressing the behavior of attendance so in speaking with principles uh in some ways we were shackling them doing more or doing less based on a prescribed number of 9095 what whatever it was uh so hearing from the principles um put it in the code of conduct that will help us enforce what we currently already have in place and the reality is um each student scenario may be a little bit different you know at the beginning and they you know to say it from the the words the mouths of principles the first day of school if you have a fall sport everyone has 100% attendance because it's the second third day of school versus what you do with a student in a Spring

102sport may be different where he needs to be placed on a contract and maintained enrollment prior so we were the intent was right but speaking with the practitioners uh we were actually not doing them Justice by we want to have a high expectation so we put it in there to make sure that they have that plan in place and give them uh the ability to do what's best for the kid and ultimately to improve attendance okay so what we talked about then is no longer here and what it does say just for clarity is each Secondary School will have student attendance requirements and an incentive plan for participation that language has changed correct okay just wanted to make sure I was in the same place um I agree with I think this is important I

103like this language um we do have a policy for uh required attendance uh just in general so you would think that you know it would be common sense to kind of lean more towards what's in our policy for this but but I think you're right we need to have a little bit of leeway because we might say 95 and then that student who has 94 or 92% attendance can't participate or that student who has 50% attendance because of their parents issues but are Great academically they don't get a chance to participate um but this actually allows principles to make that decision um I would say if you when you are in those conversations of course we don't get to determine day-to-day operations but I'm sure you and your staff will make will ensure that there

104wouldn't be I guess favoritism and that there wouldn't be students who um have a little bit you know uh leeway given to them but not to others so we just want to be able to allow everyone the opportunity to participate um if if it is possible and I would also say that a student participating in an after- School activity is more likely to be successful in the classroom more likely to be present and more likely to kind of push that parent like hey I want want to get to school get me to school so thank you for the changes thank you for the work this year um I do appreciate you know we we are coming I think um and again I'd love to see um the discipline data but you know we I think

105we're moving in the right direction as we did last year so thank you so much for that any else Dr johnes uh thank you very much the format is very nice and I see last year a lot of work was done and uh it was easy to see the changes um do you know in general uh Mr Seymour or M are our bullying reports down yes um on average what we've done is put the process in place as you know now we have a school-based threat management team and a district level as far as a state level so much of the work goes into training the trainer the teacher the coach the disciplinarian and as those things and that training comes about what we find is a lot of the issues that might be deemed

106as a bullying incident sometimes is substantive and so we to to a lighter level so I think training makes a big difference and and we we pride ourselves on giving that training each and every year this year uh Dr Tracy Crawford uh met numerous times to train every individual that will be making that decision every campus administrator has one contact person in addition to two others also from a district standpoint we are all so involved in all of those activities at a point that we've never been before so I think that's going to make make the difference in the numbers and I like the information you um shared with Elementary principles and how they have to really look at that it's different Dr Mor I brought this up to you I know we were at

107to the point where kids with cell phones were going to alternative school but I think I had asked you let's say they came in January they're not there through December if it's just cell phones am I correct there the chair once they they earn their their way back and I know we say they're going there because of cell phones but they're going there for continuous correct disruptive behavior correct and outwardly being defiant Time After Time After Time After Time one of the things they they've added to this plan is the stipulated agreement which is also the request of principles which clearly articulates uh the contract between the student the parent in the school which is the step before you actually end up in the um the alternative school so it's it is a a good

108thing at the end of the day uh some oh I got sent there for a cell phone no you you got there because you didn't uphold your end of the bargain and teachers are here to teach you not police cell phones thank you um do you know what our attendance rate is right now with Elementary Middle High School or so it it varies and gets obviously um worse as you go down I think overall attendance is 91.3 okay um which is not where we would want it to we want to be between 94 and 96 average daily attendance and that would be the total K12 space I do look on powerbi but I wasn't sure where we were on that um in talking about extracurriculars um they are the best Dropout prevention program we've ever

109had and I like that you're looking at for principles when I was at the high school and then at the FHSAA basically if the students were there weren't there all day they didn't playing the game now we did have an excuse doctor if it was legit we call the doctor and so forth but um yeah you need to look at that with the principles to see what's happening there but um when they are involved in anything extracurricular band drama art Athletics It's A Plus thank you Dr Pasa it sounds like the uh changes we made to the student conduct have improved the learning environment based on what you guys have said is that right 100% okay good and so far in general it's been well received by staff and teachers at the schools um through

110the chair I think principles were a little nervous the first couple weeks of of schools but stay the course as they did uh and they all would thank you principal every single principal will say thank you okay I mean I think it's also important to note that was some uh there were major changes that were made and um we all contributed and work together to make those change I think that's something to shine a light on um and obviously we're in the the phasee of continuous Improvement and what can we do to improve this and make it even better um and part of that is obviously um trying to help this being implemented continually in the classroom setting I'm sure there are certain schools or classrooms where it's harder to maintain this policy um and

111as a district I just want to make sure we're supporting those classrooms to maybe it needs to look a little bit different in one school versus the other um if they have continued issues it may make sense to encourage them to think outside the box maybe having a spot to put the phones in as you enter or something to that effect but encouraging them to uh continue to try to incorporate this and follow the policy um to improve the environment thank you um I was actually walking in a school when I heard a teacher say it's not my policy it's the school board's policy and I thought that was entertaining because I thought that's fine I'm okay with it um because um you know it's the rule is the rule but what I hope is

112happening is everybody's following through with the rules and you know the rule that I saw that people weren't following through with so I wanted to make sure that we um address that because as soon as you let one little thing slip everybody else looks at that child and says how come they can do it and I can't and so that's when it gets to be a real problem um can we look at page 16 on page 16 tell me about the altas pro program not being the first round of um intervention anymore for level three Behavior so that was removed because um what we found our secondary administrators um were almost hamstrung so they were saying okay I've got this offense that has occurred and I would prefer to send the student to alts but

113I can't so I'm going to send them to I'm going to assign out of school suspension first and then the second time if an offense occurs again of this at this level then I can assign them alternative to out of school suspension and they said that's kind of backwards it doesn't really make any sense and so um they requested that we remove that language so that way if necessary if appropriate that they could assign an alternative to out of school suspension prior to um assigning OSS and you know they know the kids better than we do um certain kids will react differently to different types of punishment um you know I had students who would I did Saturday school and I had kids who love spending time with me on Saturday so I thought okay

114that's not working we need to fix that so um I'm all about the administrator doing whatever is right to you know make sure the child is is following the behaviors that they need to follow so that's fine um page 24 search and seizure let's talk a little bit about that a second um so where it says search and seizure and we have the right and the responsibility and everything else this document right here we used to hand to parents right okay how do we do it now it's just in Focus right where they can see it they don't really read through it all I remember every year reading through this with my children every year especially my high schoolers we'd read through every single thing so they were very aware of of what could happen

115if they didn't tow the line um that concerns me that we're not making it like I can't say mandatory to go over it with your child but stressing the importance of going over this with your child so I think that would be a little difficult to ensure that that happens I agree with that but you gave me a wonderful idea so each year we have um our code of student conduct training for all of our stakeholders our our staff our our administrators and then of course our students we could add a piece of to that training we could add a focus on Sear teachers and what that looks like to that training to ensure that all of our students do receive it whether or not their parent reviews it with them I think they need

116to have that heads up um you know of some of the things that we've had happen and some of the comments that were made well I didn't know that my child could you know not only that but it was um who could do it you know does it have to be a female with a female or a male with a male so I think that's important to go over with the students two things we and when you do the assurances of the opening of schools the parent is acknowledging that they have reviewed it and I know that that's tough um but then we can go back and and pull that information up we've also implemented a a system where each principal at the opening of schools and returning in January has a schoolwide assembly uh

117with a very standard agenda where we're going on over what would be the non-negotiables and this being uh one of them so multiple points of of conversations regarding uh when we're covering this need to know information yeah and I think that's a really good one to bring up in January again because you know school's already halfway through and they're starting oh it's spring and you know they're starting to feel their oats a little bit so I think um not to scare them but to let them know this is the policy we're going to follow through and I I think you know if they know that then that is a deterrent um that's what we want it to be and on page 26 it says firearm can you find what a firearm is er well I

118will have Mr tesy who's my safety specialist because they are details that make the difference yeah I'm wondering like pel gun versus would that be included in this as far as this goes well if you went back to the the definition that we just left it it included uh guns of any type including air and gas powered guns whether loaded or unloaded knives so it does provide a little bit more justification or rationale so through the chair uh in law enforcement's eyes an airsoft pellet BB gun pellet or anything operated by an air cartridge is not considered a weapon okay so they have a different type of punishment for bringing that to school would there be a punishment there should be yes there would to me it's a threatening piece of equipment that you're bringing

119to school for a threatening reason so that excuse me that could still fall under weapons possessions it's could still be considered a weapon it doesn't have to be categorized as a firearm to be a weapon okay I just want to make sure that a level four because you know we've had those issues okay and through the chair um just one note too what really determines if it's going to be a real cessor is the way in which it is presented to to other people so it if it is used as a threat and other people are intimidated by it that escalates right the procedure um page 27 at the top section at the very bottom on the last line it says increase adult supervision at Camp campus hotpots so what are we referring to there

120so hotspots was a part of the language in previous iterations and typically we're referring to those restrooms we we're referring to maybe those stairwells where um there's kind of a hiding spot so to speak um that a camera may not be able to pick up our students actually asked when we met with our students for their feedback to include that language that you see there in the green including unsupervised areas so they felt like that would help kind of further expand what that would look like that's what I was I thought a hot spot was an unsupervised area but now I get it so it's like with it could be that or it could be uh heavily trafficked area correct okay and then page 33 uh first offense for Florida tobacco prevention program and it's

121crossed out Elementary why we had one yes so it would still be in place for elementary um but it would be in place for all students K to 12 so it is available for all grade levels and again this comes from our students our students said why would this not be available for us too we're talking about our students from six to 12 including Elementary correct that's what I wanted to correct okay thank you and then on page 34 it says uh assign out of school suspension from 4 to 8 days to 3 to 6 days again giving the principales leeway on what they want to do correct yes yeah that's fine and um 35 this is the the big question I have um right above where it says disciplinary procedures says a level two

122Behavior open Defiance insubordination um so if you're looking at um let's say a student willfully enters a restroom that they're not supposed to enter okay what do up here is saying that's a level two Behavior does that align with the new law though it's a level two yes this is that's why it's added it's not a level three so so the law states that it is simply a student refusing to follow directions it's not the actual Act of entering it's the refusal of leaving okay what if they entered there is nothing in the law that stipulates if they enter it's the refusal of leaving if they enter of course the refusal of leaving okay right right so if any of those individuals and this is directly from the law teacher administrator administrator or school safety

123officer comes in and directs the student you must leave now and the student does not comply then they are out of compliance with the law and that it is considered a level two offense okay I want to make sure that we're following the law that's all and then on the top of that page oh gosh second paragraph uh second sentence it says for students requiring a restroom or changing facility that is not designed for their sex I think it should say biological sex because all the others do you might want to put that word in there I think it's important um I think that follows along with the law and then on page 47 on the first boxed area the last check mark it says um that items must be connected to our Wi-Fi or

124to our internet right and we know we know cuz social media um messages that you investigate and stuff kids have posted videos they posted Social Media stuff um and they're not posting it through our getting it from our internet they're doing it through another way so if a student posts a video of a fight or a picture of something obviously they didn't do it on our um inter interet right and so if this is one of our rules and they signed it what's the punishment there if okay they've they've posted the video it's gone viral or it doesn't go viral but another student's face is out there what's the punishment for that so that falls under the next page on page 48 under major cell phone or other wireless communication device violations so this is

125what we had in place last year so if they have any if they um distribute any type of material um like what you were referring to um it is considered that major cell phone violation and it's an automatic 10 days out of school suspension okay with a reminder that they're using some another source of Internet we can't block those right cannot block other hotpots I don't know if they can be blocked through the chair I think we've had maybe three or four of those incidents all year long that's it this year this year because it has been a problem in the um yes the the new code of conduct is almost completely that's awesome eliminated it because they're just not out in the time to do it um and they know because it's reminded to

126them this is what will H this is what will happen um so we're we're in a really really good good space um because I know that a huge problem oh it it was specifically and it's being addressed because well it was a the majority of it was in the middle school and since they're completely away in the Middle School School uh it becomes very very hard I think the the the one that comes to my mind was an off-campus after school event but since they were just exiting the buses it was we kind of owned that that event and that was the consequence okay thank you sure page 34 um in regards to uh offenses relating to vape uh THC and drugs um one thing I wanted us to consider and I know we discussed

127it last time is um if this is a student who has multiple devices whether it be simply THC or nicotine um I think the uh response to the offense should be handled differently than if it was a single device I know it's going to be referred potentially to law enforcement in any case um but I think our punishment or response to that incident should be different is it the same if there's multiple devices found or no the we actually just assigned a student for having multiple so once you have multiple in in our minds it becomes with intent to distribute or or sell or whatever the case may be so they basically go to like the third offense plus area if there's you got to go okay good I mean I think that's the appropriate

128response to protect kids in the community you know it's one thing to try to change the behavior of a student who is vaping or using nicotine or THC um it's very much a different thing uh how we respond to kids who are selling it in our school district absolutely good point yes um so maybe Mr tusky would need to come back I'm not sure but um the and I haven't found uh the Florida definition but the office of law revision Council United States code um um it's 18 USC 921 defines a firearm as any weapon including a starter gun which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive B the frame or receiver of any such weapon C any firearm muffler or firearm

129silencer or D any destructive device such as uh such terms do not include an antique firearm and then of course there are more definitions there so reading this definition a BB gun pellet gun would fall under firearm there's still a projectile but it's not an explosive it's air a not exposive okay I mean is it explosive that the bullet explodes or that it's exploding a projectile right yes I mean I'm not sure I and and I'm only asking for clarity because sorry someone who comes in with a fire with a pellet gun or a BB gun um shouldn't have the same consequence as someone who comes in with a stick and hit some I mean that's you can do some pretty significant damage with a BB gun and it wouldn't be considered a Gun BB

130Gun you know a handheld gun um it would have a different name to it so I still think that it's pretty significant we shouldn't Overlook it and I don't think that we Overlook it Mr tiesy was giving the legal definition or what police consider to be a device ours we look at it differently uh and when you have it you're disrupting the function of school we may be going on a lockdown um so once you once you have it on a possession it will end up with a 10day with a request for expulsion okay that's I just wanted to make sure for yes sir yes ma'am through the chair oke so I I think the key word there is the weapon must expel a projectile using an explosive so Airsoft air cartridges are not considered

131an explosive but under the cesser definition toy guns cap guns BB guns and Pelicans are not but to Mr Seymour's point it's all in the way it's used the way it's presented um in a threatening manner so the the simple possession of it law enforcement won't press charges on that student for a weapon if it falls into that criteria but that doesn't mean the code of conduct can't hold students responsible for their their actions as there examples here simply State a pair of scissors or a letter opener can be considered a weapon so it's all on the use of it but for the law purposes for arrest a BB gun or a cap gun would not all right thank you I appreciate that yes ma'am oh one other thing I was going to say is

132uh thank you for um looking at Ro root cause analysis when you're looking at the bully the person that's doing the because there's a reason why they're bullying and you can dig down really deep and find out some really sad things that are going on in their life um so instead of throwing away a kid you know we're here to educate the child so um if we can attack attack it not good term if we can um deal with the bullying early and help that child understand the reasons why their behavior is not appropriate um and getting down to why are they actually doing that maybe they were bullied or something happened in their home um so or their neighborhood or wherever but I think that's that's really important that we do that because otherwise

133they're just going to continue to keep bullying other people so thank you all right so before we move on to the next item just because I have it in front of me our next board workshop and board meeting is scheduled for March 18 18th sorry the our March workshop and board meeting is scheduled for March 18th on March 19th uh this facility is used for elections so we've been working with the elections office unfortunately uh they need the entire day to set up and calibrate and make sure those machines are appropriately recording individuals votes so the city manager has allowed us to take our show on the road both for our workshop and our board meeting using the chamber at the county um the county office so City or the county you said City and

134then okay I the the county so we'll have we will when we notice the meetings we'll have them at the County office uh both Workshop as well as our our business meeting uh and I'll appropriately email the board and do all the notifications following today's meeting and now we are going to move on to our policies uh we are children of continuous Improvement in learning so we will present these policies as they were presented to you go I'm sorry go um we're coming up in the two-hour Mark does anybody want to take a break no feel free to go are we good we're good on this side keep going um so we will present each Cabinet member will present their specific item board members have been briefed on these items we will take questions uh

135as we move through if there are no questions uh we'll just continue to move through the overwhelming majority of these policies are simple updates and alignment with State Statute uh so the first policy is actually a technical correction being presented by Mr Bass and we'll just continue to follow the the the flow yes chair um okay there we go um first one is uh policy 0141 point2 conflict of interest uh the technical correction was the Florida statute 112 needed to be added to the policy so the only change you'll see in that if you scroll down to the very end is the where the noted Florida Statutes are all right the next one I have is actually three policies broken up over the three sections it is policy 11 39.01064750994083 individuals entering a restroom and

136changing facilities designated for the opposite sex on the premise of an educational institution we had to indicate the discipline process that we would put in those policies and that is the only change in that thank you very much welcome come on let's go come on guys okay through the chair uh we have 11 policies the majority of these policies are just technical uh Corrections or updates revisions that will align to State Statute and Florida code uh Dr shy will go through those with you okay and answer any questions you may have sure the through the chair the first one is 2120 School Improvement that is a technical correction that impacts many of ours um adding the substantial mathematics deficiency so that language was added to School Improvement um as well as the legal citation towards

137the bottom of the policy okay the next one is policy 2270 religion in the curriculum This falls under programs in the 2000s book and the statement that was deleted fits better with policy 8800 which is the operations so that was uh removed with the reference to C policy 8800 then policy 2271 articulation and access to Florida college system institutions is a technical correction meaning just Florida administrative code is added to the legal citation okay um through the chair policy 2452 disclosure of security policy and crime statistics this policy itself just names the procedures that should be in place in case of an act such as our cessors of course we follow the uh Florida safe schools policy and Reporting so we cover that um in addition to that the tctc student handbook on pages let

138me see I think it's 81 through let me 86 through 91 covers the process and and how students are to report and explains also the discipline issues that would occur if they um get involved in such an act in addition to that there are portions of this that we're going to add to that um booklet as well and that is to come and and we've met with uh Miss Shields to make sure that she follows through with this and she had a plan of action which definitely fit this fit fit the state guideline also uh 246 I'm sorry we got one in between that okay the next one is policy 2455 this is a new policy Dropout prevention and academic intervention programs it is directly the language replicates Florida Administrative Code 6 A- 6.05 21

139um all of the language is within that code policy 2460 is just um a technical change which adds the language uh new reference notice of parental rights be provided one year before the student turns 18 policy 2520 selection and Adoption of instructional materials we uh follow all of the state statutes as it pertains to reporting uh by the superintendent and this just reflects the the common practice and the way of work to catch up the policy to Expectations by the state I have a comment about that so I see that the date has changed from July 1st to April 1st so that means you kind of have to shift everything up right to be able to to do that so anything any purchases you make then you need to have in place ready to order

140by April 1st is that what this is looking at the chair Mr Mr Green has already tooken away all of our money for the remainder of this year anyway so we have we have to report to the state in the Florida instructional materials portal by April 1st what we plan to requisition okay so what you plan to do so we have to back that all up with all of the Committees that meet and everything else okay which fits how we did social studies adoption we kind of moved it okay I just want want make sure it's doable it will be all right so so if we were to um think about opening a classical education school um what why would we fall I mean I know we're supposed to have an instructional adoption period but

141it doesn't necessarily mean that there needs to it needs to look this because this is a charter school it doesn't need to look I mean a magnet school it doesn't need to look exactly the same as we have done in the past we could adopt our own curriculum at any time if we plan in advance you know hypothetically speaking we can create our own committee to draft up our own curriculum at any point in time and teach you know that um so at some point moving down and this really isn't a question this is really a just a I guess food for thought you know when you come to us in the future with um what it's going to look like like I'd like to know what you're thinking of in terms of that process

142okay because some of the traditional classical curriculum um Publishers are not it's not at the top of their list to kind of bid for public schools to adopt their curriculum so we might have a bidding process but if they don't know about it you know how then we wind up with the worst of the worst or in some cases choosing the best of the worst um and we don't want that we want the best of the best for a new school you know for the the better outcomes so moving to yes sir go ahead no I think we need to we will include that process because it will be different um in a typical process we're working down from the state's list that they provide in terms of approved curriculum um so we might have

143to be a little bit more proactive in in advertising to different individuals the opportunity to submit requests which will include that in the process and I don't know and this is something that I don't know so what I don't and you might know um but if for example um Miss basur says you know I found a curriculum the Publishers aren't responding but I love this curriculum and I want us to vet it at what point what you know where is her authority to say you know I recommend that our committee also review this I think we can do that I just don't know how we allow that to happen it's never it hasn't been done because we've always done the traditional you know come down from the sky and you know here's what we recommend

144and but in this particular hypothetical scenario would as as we're talking about it I think Miss Biser would probably reach out to them and have a conversation and say are you aware and and would you consider and if they are aware they they consider but they don't know the what if they're small what if they are I don't know I don't know I'm just kind of I hear what you're saying I think the team is is extremely thorough in their work and they will turn over every Rock to identify all potential um individuals either right Frameworks or curriculum um and we'll do our due diligence to make sure um these organizations are fully aware and fully submitting based on our desire to give our community the best best possible curriculum we can because I'm okay

145with that by the way I'm okay with your team saying this bid did not come in but I think it is in my expertise I think it is uh very highly effective in whatever it's per I I would we recommended that the committee review this as well I'm okay with that I just you know that's my thought um and of course we would take it from there um but since we're looking at the policy and since we have spent so much time here on what that practice looks like at the district that's the portion we didn't have a new school that we were considering to open so that's the portion that I know is not included here and if it's not then fine we can kind of make it up as we go along but

146if at some point when you do come to us we might need to revisit this policy to say let's include another paragraph that shows us what that would look like for opening up a new school or a classical model are you going to say what I think you're going to say yes through the chair that is actually already uh in this policy on the second page uh non-state adopted instructional materials and it provides a road map for us to do exactly what you're saying m m nonstate adopted instruction State adoped and nonstate AD yes yes yes yes okay I see it thank you we've been very careful about going with state adopted are we going off that now through the chair the P there is a state adopted process which we typically do for all

147schools the the policy does allow us to do whether it's a supplemental curriculum or a non-state adopter there's a similar but different process that we would have to follow but I'm just saying if you look back at our our board meetings not only since I've been on here before but not going with state adopted have always we've always had a concern about that or questions correct Miss basur uh through the chair you are absolutely correct and I think that that is uh the majority of our schools will continue continue to go through that process but it makes me think back to when one of our schools did use Singapore Math it did not go through that same process so there is an opportunity here for us that does provide that road map to make sure

148that we are going through the process uh for curriculum that may not be on the a state's bid list and also again just to review because I want to make sure I'm clear on this we're still using State Standards so all of our other schools would could continue to use amplify if we choose correct and I think the assurance that we have through policy here is when a school or a set of schools wants to use something outside of the state adopted material there's a board approved process in which they must follow so Singapore math is a good example um because we all like Singapore Math but one if it was a math curriculum that was four years below grade level not allying to the standards the policy protects the parent the student the school

149um from to make sure that it is being vetted and it is in fact aligned to um the proced the the policy that's in place you you you you won't have through this policy a recommendation come to you to approve a supplemental or a non-state adopted curriculum that isn't going to make sure that we're at the standards and exceeding the standards so could our other schools I guess magnet schools start looking at stuff that maybe they want to emphasize are we going to give that option to other schools maybe they want to change something but thir year we don't know what's going to change either so I think you allow the process to to to figure out you know amplify uh is an absolutely outstanding curriculum uh it is one of many components that we

150have in place that has led to us uh being the most improved School District in the State of Florida when you look at um we were very very critical I I will always say the disparity in what was being taught and the lack of alignment you bless you youall make me feel bad for saying bless you um is is you know it it was absolutely out out of control um so I I don't think I would be overly willing to say hey everyone come up with your own curriculum you know we have a district office uh in curriculum in instruction who is doing all of the research making sure that we're aligned uh at the standard and above the the standard and Dr I agree 100% with amplify I'm just saying though this new school

151if this is the way it goes and the students the parent survey goes like that and this is what they want to do they would be able to adopt something other than amplify am I correct in saying that no okay tell me what I'm incorrect they they still have to go through the the procedure which would include the district office so we were looking at um the the procedures that we would follow so it's not in isolation or it's not every you know we're not we in the wild wild west where we can do this that or the other uh you can have a theme and you can build a theme in right and in in the process of what we do create um there may be pieces of amplify that's involved in um what

152would be the new school if we get consensus from our community that that's what we want to have so and it may include other things IB includes other things right um so this isn't something that's not not being done uh it's being done uh across the district with you know supplemental curriculum to enhance to their visual Performing Arts to whatever that that theme would would be so I don't see it being drastically different but there is a a from a board's perspective there is is a policy in place that protects the quality of curriculum that is our students aren being exposed to correct I just I just remember when we went through social studies we were not waving from state adopted right so that has been an issue and it's been an issue even before

153this so I just want to be clear when we share this whenever it comes down the pike that's all I got thank you um so thank you Miss faer for bringing this little this section up because I totally completely forgot about this section um just to kind of confirm here it's not just that it's written in our policy it's that the statute Florida law allows school districts to go one of two routes the first route is to go through the state adopted uh instructional materials Route they have their process they recommend to us their top whatever three or five and then we have a process in which we select a committee makes a recommendation to the board the board ultimately approves that state adopted the other route is an option where the board the district

154or the board can choose something else that's not on that list and even though in the past traditionally which happens with you know a majority of the school districts is they choose the state adopted route it doesn't mean that that's the only route that's available doesn't mean that that's the only right route there could be something else for some other topic for some other you know curriculum you can we can by law have the option to choose something else somewhere else and that is within our rights within statute and within our policy so now that you pointed it out I'm glad that you did um and is it we have never had a a a new school of this type or proposed to be proposed um so I just think we should be a little

155like you mentioned before Nimble and open-minded to doing things maybe a little different than what we have done before and that's the whole idea of opening up a new school is being flexible um and not always thinking inside the box but think outside the box who turn still ours okay go ahead policy 2522 that's our um objections to adoption or use of instructional library media or reading list materials we learned from the recent committee meeting that there was some contradictory information in there regard regarding confidential voting uh so with Mr oner's assistance we made sure that the policy was aligned to comply with Florida statute as a committee operating in the sunshine um question I see I I skimmed it but is there a spot in here where it talks about um I see at

156the very beginning it says uh parent or legal gardy of a student in the district and or so they crossed out and and they put or a resident of the county can object which is fine um how about it board meetings when they can read the um verbage because that didn't change under the law last year no okay it may change this year I don't know but right now that's that's how it is correct it need to be apparent okay I'm just curious I believe that's in 1069 okay then we have 26 23 student assessment that is uh just revised in accordance with Florida administrative code with test Administration and security the next policy is 51101 homeless students and it simply adds a definition around substandard housing in the definition section the next one is

157541 student progression that is simply a technical correction um once again adding the substantial mathematics deficiency still us um 54101 promotion acceleration placement and retention also a technical correction um to make sure that we had the substantial math deficiency as well as Florida Statutes 108.2 which is the statute uh linking to student progression then we have policy 54 or no did I skip one 5420 that is reporting student progress and we add the added again the mathematics deficiency to that one then we have not it no so the next policy is 5460 this is in regard to graduation requirements this is aligning the policy um and adding verbiage related to underage waivers to take the GED in addition there is an added legal notation at the bottom 5465 again general education development tests this provides

158an update to include the language regarding the underage waiver for a GED in addition to that there is a requirement to include the process to appeal a denial of underage w waiver and that process has been included as well as the contact the GED coordinator for the district that information has been included as well policy 5780 student parent rights and that also has the substantial mathematics deficiency the next policy is 6322 construction Contracting and B bidding it simply adds an exemption to competitive bidding where we can piggyback other governmental contracts it's the same exemption that already lives in 6320 and it just makes them aign I actually have that one Mr Seymour okay um the next policy is 74401 it's in regard to video surveillance and electronic monitoring it was noted by staff that this

159policy needed to be update updated to ensure that we're in compliance with furpa as well as security um Florida administrative code regarding security systems and so there was language that was stricken from there regarding um the viewing of video recordings and video recordings can be viewed only um after being with exemptions that have been seen before I court and provided approval that way the next item is 7450 property inventory it simply adds a new incident report instead of a police report for items that we know what happened to them they were disposed of maybe because they were broken um and not requiring to file a police report as we would with a stolen item the policy after that is 8305 information security this aligns with state board rule 61.0 9550 which basically says we have

160to have someone appointed at the district to review online educational materials terms and services and privacy policies to make sure they align with furpa and Copa which we already have that in place with Miss carer wall our educational instructional technology specialist policy 8420 Mr Seymour there's one more in between they're 8330 Student Records so e um and it aligns well because it simply adds a definition of what an online educational resource are apps or online websites access through the internet for educational purposes okay uh policy 8420 Emergency Management emergency preparedness and emergency response agencies this identifies the public safety agencies to be involved in the development of policies and procedures in that we um always include them in our all of our fsat procedures on our campus tours as well as in our Safety and

161Security uh yearly meeting in closed sessions all um leas or agencies or law enforcement agencies fire em Ms give feedback and updates uh to school administration as well covers it and lastly policy 8 8600 uh we will not be accepting this recommendation for the revisions as it does not apply to our transportation program so Madam chair that is the policies just want to thank staff as well as Miss Holmes who is actually staff uh for coordinating this work the depth in which uh each Cabinet member can speak through uh their area of expertise is just uh reassuring uh to me in terms of the quality of people that we have sitting at at this table but if there any additional questions uh staff would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have

162just thank you um how this is um formatted as far as the policy the title and then looking up the research if you have a question is excellent and I'm requesting a 10-minute break okay and before we do that i' just like to say thank you for putting it in numerical order and covering it that way for us because in the past you've had is flipping all over the place so we appreciate that anybody else okay we're going to take a 10-minute recess it is 2:24 and 45 seconds so we're 15 seconds early sorry go ahead okay um the remaining items on the agenda are all items that will come before the board for approval on our upcoming meeting uh they all have been briefed individually with staff I think the next item will be

163uh presented by Mr Seymour and we'll just follow through Mr Bass and Mr Green through the chair each year we um report our needs based on hardening our schools for safety purposes um this year we will be receiving 23,31 for hardening our schools uh this allocation itself is $133,900 more than we received last year uh with these funds um they will be used to improve the Safety and Security School build buildings based on 23 24 best practices from security risk assessment which was completed by all district schools by section 1000 6.07 uh this will be brought to the table for approval that's all that I have um I have a question just how many schools are we Hing we every every school within our system and then too there are Char dollar so how many

164Charters also involved how many are we going to be able to do with these this These funds well how the funds are utilized um primarily we look at the need per school and okay so we don't have an ear Mark yet is that what you're saying we do in a sense because a lot of the um work that needs to be done has already been recorded so we know primarily what schools will will need assistance all right through the chair I have the next item is the fiveyear work plan this is a a plan that we have to do each year uh list out our maintenance expenditures versus our revenues and most important page is the first page there where everything balances out so we are not spending more money that we are anticipating collecting

165um this was the document that originally doe had held in releasing uh should have been released by Doe back in the fall but is now they've released it we've completed it and bring it to your to you for approval I have I have a question um what major shifts had to happen in order for us to purchase more metal detectors that'll be coming out of Safety and Security so not out of our fiveyear plan then not out of the fiveyear plan but it is in there's a line item in there for those revenues but it didn't affect our facility maintenance plan it was just in that one for security pocket of money correct okay the next item is the Thundercat technology School mapping last year House Bill 301 appropriated funds for school mapping for First

166Responders and Emergency Services these will be um macro and micro level Maps high level and then very detailed as to where hazardous materials are located stairwells KNX boxes um so that when conducting drills practices and in the case of any real emergency everyone can um access what they need by not um in interrupting any hazardous materials along the the way and there is a vendor that will be mapping all those schools that's what you'll be approving it's a piggyback contract and charter schools are included anyone um I have I have a question about that um in St loucy County they have um big huge numbers on each of the buildings at a school for that reason so when they come in they know that's building one you know and they hear over the oser I

167haven't noticed the big huge numbers do we have the numbered differently [Music] here I'm going have to turn that over I mean they're very big down there very obvious is this one on okay yes um part of the annual fsat assessment that uh we briefed the board on in August uh I did list way finding signage that was in there so for the past two years we have updated Corridor and hallway signages uh we did aggressively um spearheaded a project to where every school was numbered by Corridor you've seen 600 800 400 wings so that is complete at all of our schools uh the only school that remained unique was Sebastian River High School we allowed them to keep the letter codes we worked with law enforcement to do that so um for the past

1682 to three years I have had wayfinding projects within the budget our next plan is to do aerial numberings for uh helicopters so I'm working with physical plant to start planning that project as well so we can assist First Responders from the air but um you know maybe the signs you're seeing are larger than ours but ours are visible approved by law enforcement we did walk it with them so uh that is complete yeah I just want to make sure they're very aware of what the numbers are and where they're located AB absolutely so this uh mapping project is overseen by facility security code and compliance building we're all working on this together so providing those digital maps with those locations are are crucial uh with the correct locations and the numbering Systems Great thank

169you yes ma'am Dr John just a comment I just thank you as you know as a former principal and and knowing that our First Responders know where everything is and where to go it's very comforting yes ma'am the next item is a very routine item it's Surplus property um we'll build be disposing of some items the vast majority of items are technology related and almost all the items are 10 years or older some in the 15 to 20 years there's a few weight machines that are the same year that I started teaching wow 28 years old um a washing machine and a pressure washer the rest are um computers and Technology that are Obsolete and those will be going we have a recycle program to try to recoup some of those funds but they're not

170usable all right anybody I have a question like as I always find this entertaining because I'm like all right how about number to fish farm the fish farm yeah so that is 24 years old I don't know that I would be able to speak to it but it's from Oslo middle school and it looked like some type of a fish farm setup and it was over $1,000 so it had to be capitalized at the time okay is is that able to is it totally like useless or is it able to be give away to somebody 24 years old believe yeah I figured I just find it entertaining some of the stuff that's on there okay um the final item as we briefed is eade is a federal reimbursement program that helps school and libraries upgrade

171technology throughout the system they follow a different RFP process request for proposals than we do so we will have to follow their process will which will end on March 1st which doesn't align with a board meeting so what we'll be coming asking you is a Max spend of $300,000 that means we're going to buy $1.5 Million worth of equipment at a almost 80% rate of return and only cost us $300,000 that process they will we will find the most aggressive bidder they're all federally vetted and that's who will select so I don't have a name of the vendor for you but in the backup you'll see the list of equipment the network equipment that we are um putting out to bid in that RFP so that is a um a very very lucrative way for

172us to increase technology at a minimal cost all right that's all my items those and that concludes my portion of the agenda Madam chair you do have three items under discussion plus the one that you added at the beginning of the meeting right okay so the very first one says legislative update so I just thought I'd give everybody a little update um I've attended two committee meetings um not on the hill but um subcommittee meeting for um fsba and this is this was interesting I'm on the um the government the US government one and um we now last year we switched from the National Organization that we used to belong to to cosba which is a new organization that was newly formed with other states um because we didn't agree with a lot of of

173the stuff that was going up to um Washington and so this group is a little more conservative uh the one item that we were have been discussing in detail was the legislative platform that cosba is doing and um there was an item that I objected to and several others on the committee did it was about school choice uh kasma said they don't want to have uh school any funds go to school choice at all well that goes totally against Florida law so so we couldn't agree with that so um that is the one item that um fsba is not agreeing with Kasa everything else say agreed with um so that that happened last week and then um this morning I attended the um committee meeting for the central Florida Coalition and um the topic of

174choice was uh how to get teachers and it's been the topic you know um so I I kind of mentioned how I got hired in the state and they said oh my gosh you're right we haven't it's still around but it's not like it used to be and that is the Florida teaching Florida teaching used to be huge it used to be in Orlando it was at a really really nice Convention Center um and it was it was communicated well to other states so I was living in Texas and heard about it and I thought and we were moving here and I thought oh that's a great way to meet lots of different counties at the same time and see if I can get a job and same time I could take all my tests

175I had to take and apply for my um license my certification got it all done one stop shopping it was great um all I had to do was pay for my my room basically and the rest of it was you know available to me and I had to pay for my certificate um application stuff like that but I was able to interview with lots of different places although back then Indian River didn't have any job openings because um that was when believe it or not there was a waiting list to be a teacher to get into the counties so now we're in the opposite end and they used to have this wonderful thing with not that many jobs available and I said why aren't we doing it wonderfully now when we need so many people

176and part of the issue is they're not communicating it well out to other places if they put it out there that hey for these three days you can come and interview with all kinds of different counties you could take all your tests you can apply to teach I think it would go a long way so um several of us thought that maybe we could start putting some more um request to the doe to make the Florida teaching a little more powerful I think it still exists barely right yes it is uh April 13th 2024 in Lakeland this year one day and we have participated it one day and how many people do you get attracted to that and it's in Lakeland so it's not near a major airport see what I'm my point is it

177was it was in Orlando it had come to Orlando you know everybody wants to come to Orlando when you're in another state and then um you got to go there for a couple days and then interview I thought it was awesome we're seeing so many job fairs in hour virtually virtual so you know I know Miss Miss chrisa Foley participates in several throughout the year they do go out to some school or universities and visit um you know we've we've posted our own um so that's I get that yeah that was before all that um but I think it was important that I could actually apply somebody sat with me showed me how to apply for everything and take my tests I could literally go sit and take the test that when I was there

178and I did I took all the tests I had to take and I got it all done in one day so that to me is the part that's missing I don't know who we can say to that but that was a discussion that came up at that committee um then what's happening up in Tallahassee are the Committees are winding down and they should be finished I think this week um so that means pay attention to the bills because that means if a bill is not gone through all the Committees it's supposed to go through it's on the docket for a committee and if the committee doesn't hear it it's dead so I'm paying attention to a couple of really interesting ones that um if they don't get heard by the Committees this week they'll die

179so that's what happen they just die a quiet death sometimes and that happens so that's my report on legislative update did you want to do I said like um no I'll do homeless again go ahead all right um my topic is District objection committee and as we start with our new round of book challenges I just want to make sure I understood everything and that our public understood first of all thank you to all who serve on that committee it's a lot of extra work and I appreciate it and I talk with Dr Moore about this when challenges come up as a board member I'd like to know so I can read the book because recommendations that would be coming to the board so either miss baser or Dr shafty when will we know the

180challenges and then the reason for the challenge when will those go to the committee I know the next one's February 21st I couldn't get to the last one but I'll get to this one through the chair uh we will be presenting the documents on Wednesday one week before the meeting uh they'll be publicly noticed and available for all to see um we'll probably be phasing this in where we know we have certain books that are definitely ready to go uh we are in a position where we're not sure about a couple of others so rather than have them on the list off the list on the list we will add them to the list as we are more certain okay and the reason for the challenge will also be on the list yes that is

181correct okay and um Mr ansbacher I didn't see all of the meeting I watched most of it but we received an email from you on October 31st regarding sexual orientation gender identity and CRT as it relates to book challenges could you summarize that a little bit for us those are instructional material based objections I will say that with the caveat as the chair pointed out we'll see what the session brings this session and additionally there are multiple pending litigations so as things stand that is the position of the state and and that's what you reviewed with the committee last week I'm sorry I haven't watched all of it okay yes ma'am and my next one dealt with minutes I'm sorry that's um my next one dealt with minutes and I um attached for the um

182board the state statute in our policy regarding minutes and I certainly understand that um when a board vote is happening action time is happening we have to record the minutes and and the vote in the state statute Part B of 10142 it mentions the word vote about four times in action and then our policy talks about vote and when I talk with Mr ansbacher I certainly understand we want to have everything correct but we also are um taping these meetings uh and they're live and sometimes I go home at the end of the night and say did I say this so I'm looking at it in YouTube it's right there afterwards because I'm thinking okay I did say that but I just want to make sure that you know when we look at minutes we

183just have to follow the law as far as the action and so forth the interpretation discussion does that need to be recorded because the reason I say that is that I I don't need anybody interpreting me I mean I'm going to say what I want to say say but even if we interpret it and what if it's wrong and we go back do we have to do discussion and interpretation as far as the law is concerned and that's a question to me ma'am yes yes okay um the answer is the bare minimum that the statute and also 28611 the sunshine act and multiple attorney general opinions have said you need and Robert's Rules I think is consistent 482 says the focus should be on what is done not what is said now having said that

184if you look at the Attorney General opinions yes uh they also provide that it's appropriate not minimally legally necessary but it's appropriate to go as far as to do a verb btim set of minutes but it is legally sufficient to say here's the agenda item here's uh what the Motions were on the agenda items here's how the vote turned out uh there is one clarification uh exception both within the Attorney General opinions and within uh policy 168 which was was any other information required to be shown um that would be sufficient for the public to understand the basis so if there's a lot of debate uh that can be uh fleshed out and for what it's worth one of the reasons that they well there are two reasons that the Attorney General uh has given

185for not for not requiring verbatim uh one is as uh you just pointed out uh you're having a recording individual trying to extrapolate what each member of a board meant and the other is the uh ironically because the minutes speak for themselves and that what individual board members say may not be the basis for the Maj majority and so all of that is uh to to to sum up uh if you have the item you have the Motions you have the vote that's the bare minimum and you can flesh it out as circumstances warn um so Dr Moore or uh Mr ansbacher if somebody asked for a Verbatim transcript I mean what happens then they're the chair we'd send them the the link to the video okay all right I mean we do tape it

186live and then we have it on YouTube right away so I just wanted to bring that up um because I think it's important that obviously when we look at State Statute and our policy that it talks about the vote and and I love the discussions that we have but sometimes I'm not going to expect Miss Mor to interpret it for me so I would say you know this is when I started talking about it this is what said and it's right there live and then on YouTube by the time I get home anyway so just wanted to share that with board members see what they think and anybody want to discuss either of those items because this is discussion I all right then I'm going to bring up U the one I added which is

187homeless um recently I was at an activity I think it was science fair I think um Awards and um I just casually mentioned or asked about homeless kids and I was given a number and it kind of shocked me and then I was given another number which even shocked me more so um Bruce I asked you to um kind of come up with some numbers for us can you tell us about the homeless population of students in our schools for the last five years um so the homeless population in our district has ranged between 450 and 550 roughly students um this particular year as of February 12th in our student information system is at 491 uh back back in 2019 it was 441 and it's gone up and down around that sense and one of

188the things I asked you is to Define what it means to be homeless like how many of them are living in cars or living and are they living with other relatives you know or in a hotel what's happening so so in our student information system and for reporting we categorize those into shelters shared housing motels and unsheltered just using this year's data um shelters and motels independently are roughly around 10% of the students are either in shelters or in hotel motels less than 2% are unsheltered and the vast majority 78% are in what's called shared housing which is is um housing of another person duee to the loss of housing economic hardship or a similar reason um sometimes called doubling up couch surface couch surface okay um and what services do we provide and what

189services do we connect them to so I think that would be a good opportunity for um Miss mallets to probably share some information cuz I think you'd be surprised at the level of services and support that we do offer within our district um and that's something we could definitely provide if that was the direction of the board okay and and the reason why I bring that up uh board members is because there's been a lot of um Talk recently about the homeless situation that's going on downtown in the begging and all that and it seems to be being dumped on the city and then sometimes the County Commission and then I heard about these numbers and and just said you know what is it we could do maybe as three government organizations together to have

190a conversation about it um would you like to have a three governmental meeting and discuss this as a concern um because you know a lot of people you see certain people on the street but you don't see kids I saw one at Christmas time I saw a mom setting up for her little baby and she was begging on the corner by um Chick-fil-A and it just broke my heart so um are you agreeable to doing something like that I would love to I think I think we need a presentation first from Miss Mallet and get some background information love to yeah I think that makes a lot of sense to see what we can do as a a group to more organized approach to this no I agree 100% um Mr Mr Green what were

191the what was the number that you provided again um as of February 12th 491 and that's a cumulative number number um on any given day it could vary but that's students that have been reported as homeless at any time during this year in our student information system and how many total students do we have register um 17,700 roughly okay and of these 491 uh do we know the percentage of how many students are Elementary and high school or I don't have that information with me but it is in our our student information system so we should be able to capture that would be good for part present so something to keep in mind when we do have this presentation the Florida Department of Education um has you know obviously all of our data um for

192the 2122 school year um and they have it broken up separately but for the 2122 school year they have um way less but they again they do it by assessment so it's you know how many of the homeless students are level one level two level three level four to level five it is way less but when we prepare for this um presentation it would be and I don't know if we know it but it would be uh I think it would help our conversation if there were any data to indicate why there is such an increase um overall you know what that increase is and then why because if we don't know the root cause if we don't have an idea then there there then our conversation would be feudal well I don't I don't

193think it would be feudal because it would be a good way to have a root cause analysis in other words discussing with everybody okay we have this homeless situation how many homeless do we think we have in our County how many are in the city how many are kids um where are they living and what services are all around to provide for them and why aren't they taking advantage of it if they could you know this mom sitting there begging with her child near Chick-fil-A really bothered me because I thought there are so many services and I know are there for families does she not know about them is she new to the area I couldn't talk to her because of the traff traffic that was running around um but it it really bothered me

194so that's why I thought maybe we should at least start a conversation about it yeah and and let me just um let me just respond to that um I don't mean that it would be feudal what I mean is you know to to come to an end you know what would that look like for us as a school district um someone who is not a part of the school district we can't really have influence over over um but we can for sure over those who are within our school district so that's really what I meant from from that I think I'm thinking more of um a community effort of looking at homeless in a different light because I think a lot of the stuff I read it seems like it's the city's issue no it's

195the County's issue and it's our issue it's a community's issue and I think that we need to um see if there's anything that we know of services that are available that we can have some Cross services with the county and the city so i' just like to maybe have the presentation first and then I'm going to reach out to some County commissions Commissioners and the city council and and see what their ideas are and their idea about maybe meeting excellent idea okay I'll meet I'll I'll meet with the mayor and then uh Susan Adams who's the U I believe she's chair now for the county okay anything else all right then I'm going to call this meeting adjourned it's 302